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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126952
thanked Hallman, Escondldo Honda, Spectro, Neal Enterprise and IMS for their support. "It was mainly over the ISDE. Husky didn't want me to ride it and it was important to me, so I said I'd go ride red and see you guys in Poland." Krause looked like a winner right from the start of the Huntington Beach M. C. e:vent. When the banner dropped just after 9 a.m., Krause rocketed his big red machine off the line and led the sprint north across the valley toward the bomb. As the racers hit the first of the rocks about five miles into the first loop, Krause had already stretched out a lead of almost 15 seconds. Chasing hard in second overall at the start of the 49-mile first loop was Ashcraft, with Yamaha-mounted Kenny Parry hard on the gas in third. Parry's luck ran out just a few miles into the race when a front flat tire forced him to turn back before the second wave of riders left the starting line. Another early casualty was last year's Barstow-to-Vegas champ Cliff _Thomas. Making a come-back after breaking collarbone during practice at Whiskey Pete's World Championship Hare and Hound in January, Thomas got off to a fast start and was third overall at the bomb. "Cliff got past me at the bomb and then bailed big time right in front of me," said 250 Husky pilot Dale Knapp. "I hit his back tire, looped my b~e and went down too." Knapp made a quick recovery and was back in third overall at the five-mile mark, but Thomas, who reportedly had mangled the b~ck end of his bike, was out of the race. Fourth overall in the early running was held by Yamaha-mounted Open Expert Ron Shuler, with Yamaha pilots Darin Cartwright and Eddie Odgen, Jr., along with Suzukimounted Charlie Morris, Jr., close behind. The lead in the Amateur class was held by Sean Johnson in 10th overall. As the course cleared the whoops and rollers of the early running and began a large loop through the East Ord Mountains, Morris started to make his move. "Once we got up into the hills, I started catching people and when we got into some really rocky crossgrain I caught everyone," said the Answer/DRS/Downhill's Race .Specs/Race Kool-sponsored racer. "I was out in front for about 10 miles but then I got a bad fl'at and that slowed me' down. I kept the lead for about another 10 miles but then Krause got me and I pulled over to let Ashcraft past. After that everyone started going by and there was nothing I could do." Krause and Ashcraft continued to battle for the remainder of loop one and as the frontrunners headed into the pits halfway through the race, ~hcraft was ahead by 18 seconds. After a quick stop for gas the battle was on again, with Ashcraft and Krause 'pushing their matching CR500s to the limit. Third overall and first 250 going into the 45-mile second loop, was Montclair Yamaha's Darin Cartwright, with fellow 250 pilot Dale Knapp one minute back in fourth. Team Honda's Randy Morales had worked his way up to fifth at the start of loop two, just ahead of Eddie Ogden, Ron Shiller, and KTM rider Mark Zoller. First in the Amateur ranks was held by Hondamounted Kirk Kovaleff in 10th overall, just ahead of the first 125 rider, Eric Hallgath, aboard a Yamaha. The first senior rider out into loop two was Husqvarna pilot Richard Jackson in 16th overall, with first in a Wild Hare Hare and Hound runner-up Dan Ashcraft (7) leads 250 Expert class winner Dale Knapp. After an impressive high-speed ballIe that saw the lead swap back and forth throughout the 94-mile course, Krause and Ashcraft were neck-in-neck as the checkered flag came into sight. In an all-out, sideby-side sprint to the finish line, Krause inched ahead to edge the Team Honda pilot out of the top spot by just over half a bike length. Coming in under full speed, both riders overshot the finishing chute, then collapsed to their knees while trying to'recover from the grueling ballle. "What a race," said an obviously . tired Krause, who rode to victory aboard a brand new Honda CR500 after parting company with Team Husky last week. "We went back-and-forth the whole way, just giving it everything we had. It was so close you couldn't let up for a minute. It feels so good to finally win something. Even to finish feels great after my luck this year." Charlie Morris Jr.• (4X) sets the pace for 125 rider Eric Hallgath. Morris finished out of the running due to a flat rear tire. - Krause nips Ashcraft in Wild Hare photo finish By Anne and Tom Van Beveren Photos by Tom Van Beveren ANDERSON DRY LAKE, CA, MAR 8 In' one' of the closest, finishes ever seen.. in I southern California AMA/District 37 desert! racing, Paul Krause snatched the overall win I at Huntington Beach M.C.'s 18th .Annual ' Wild Hare Hare and Hound, finishing less than a bike length I ahead of Team Honda's Dan Ashcraft. Ashcraft described the race as one of the toughest he has ever ridden. "That's the fastest we've gone in a long time," he said: "We were sideby-side the whole second loop and we were going all out, pushing as hard as we could. We hit one road crossing wide open and scared the heck out of the flagman - not as much as we scared ourselves, though. It was like that the whole way." , Krause's victory broke a long chain of mechanical bad luck that has plagued the 22,year-old Laguna Beach, California, rider in every race this year, except the..Adelanto Grand, Prix, where. he finished fourth in the Open class. Krause, who currently holds the Number One' plate in District '37's 250 division, gave up his 250 Suzuki to accept an Open class ride with Team Husky for 1987. But after managing only one finish all year on the 430 Husky, Krause left Husqvarna last week and is now going .at it on his own. "We had some contractual hassles," explained- Krause, who.